Posts Tagged ‘Christian Living’

Whether you call it Easter or Resurrection Day or spring…

Whether you celebrate with eggs or on your knees in gratefulness…

Whether you believe in the divinity of He who fulfilled over 160 Old Testament prophecies or think your own goodness will carry you to heaven…

Whether you celebrate Christ’s resurrection on Sunday or Friday or the second Tuesday of February or not at all…

Whether you tremble in fear over your sins or shed tears of grateful joy over your forgiveness…

Whether you deny the existence of a universal truth or cling firmly to the simple message of an unchanging Gospel…

The fact remains, and the fact is this:

Jesus lives.

Jesus saves.

The message is simple. The gift is free. The way is Christ.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
~John 3:16 (the Gospel in a nutshell)

While Modest Fashion Week has ended, please visit The Stay-at-Home Missionary and read about modesty, the whys and the how-tos. If you have an aversion to the term “modest dress” because you think you will be wearing flour sacks and sneakers, you will be pleased with what you read.

If you have daughters, invite them to join you, or print out the week’s messages. This is a huge issue among today’s Christians, and it is a blessing to see it addressed well!

Happy dressing!

Perhaps it is because I am attempting to raise five godly young women in an age of ungodliness. Perhaps it is because we struggle to appropriately dress our children modestly in a world of immodesty. Perhaps it is because my children see more skin in church than during the rest of the week. Whatever the reason, I have long been driven to write on the subject of modesty, or, rather the lack thereof, among Christian women (and men!).

Many have written on the subject of how Christians should dress. It has become a hot and legalistic topic. Blessed or cursed with quick guilt, I often find myself falling prey to the legalistic side of the issue, thus discounting the power Christ’s grace has over my life. At one point I began dressing according to how I felt other Christians expected me to dress, rather than how I was moved in my heart to dress out of gratefulness to God, obedience to my husband, and appreciation of the body the Creator gave me.

I am generally not long in the deadly talons of legalism before my husband frees me with the simple message of the power of grace.

He’s the source of my hope and rest,
Fount of all my relief;
Though I live with this thorn in my flesh,
He has given Grace beyond my need.

Grace beyond my need. As Christians we live under the grace of Christ. We have freedom under that grace to live out our love for Him. How do we then live? The Christian grace and love in our hearts should overflow not only into our words and actions, but also into our appearance. Read the rest of this entry »

To those first time visitors and members of the Titus 2 Blog Party:

Welcome to the Notable Blogger! Come in and visit! Here you will read about the music, writing, and antics of my homeschooling family of eight. You will see how the Lord works in our lives, how we focus on His grace to carry us, and how we live, laugh, love and learn. Enjoy the notable moments of our walk in Grace!

Those God has given me on my journey:

My husband has set our world to song with his contemporary Christian music. He is a blessing, a real man, and a true Christian. He is all I say he is and more…even when I cannot see it!

My son has set our world to laughter with his boyish exuberance and ready grin. He is our little man, lifting our heavy loads, holding doors for his girls, and loving on his baby. Having a son after four girls has been fun to put it mildly…although potty training has been…different.

My first four daughters are young women in the making, lovely girls with a heart for their Lord and their family…and just about every four-legged creature and baby they see. I love cooking, reading, playing piano and otherwise enjoying life with them. They have started a Prayer Club on the Notable Blogger for the people around the globe who need to learn of God’s saving grace. Please feel free to join their prayer club by subscribing to the blog.

Our baby girl is round and sweet, and we can’t cherish her enough! She is a snuggler, and if that doesn’t melt away a mama’s imagined troubles, I don’t know what will! She too is blessed beyond measure to be loved as much as she is and to have as many mamas and daddies as she does! Our hearts ache for the babies of the world that are not loved as she is. If only there were enough arms….

My name is Christy, meaning follower of Christ. I try, I struggle, I fail, I get back up, sometimes only as far as my knees…always in His care and forever under His Grace, forever following my Shepherd. I love to be busy at home. It is my joy! It can try the soul at times, leaving me weary and feeling inadequate, but it is always my joy!

Thank you for visiting! Please leave a note to say you stopped by. I look forward to getting to know you!

It has been gloomy here in our desert. The sky has been grey and cheerless, the mountains obscured by listless clouds seemingly reaching to the earth. Living almost constantly under the cheering influence of the sun, we desert-dwellers suffer a bit of enviro-shock when its warming rays are missing. With the darkening of the skies comes the darkening of the mood.  We grow tense, morose, and dilatory. It’s pathetic, I know, this micro-version of seasonal anxiety disorder, but, hey, nobody ever said you had to be tough to live in the desert with air-conditioning!

I liken the gloomy effects of an overcast day to the contagious results of a mother’s countenance.  Like most overused sayings, the expression “if Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy” is grounded in the basic truths of a mother’s influence. Mother’s smile, kind word, or loving caress spreads peace over her brood, but equally as potent is Mother’s frown, sharp rebuke, or impatient gesture. Read the rest of this entry »

After I went out on a limb and explained why my Beloved does not give me chocolate, what do you suppose he did for the first time ever on Valentine’s Day? You guessed it. He presented me with a big, beautiful box of chocolate.  Ha ha ha! It’s pretty safe giving me chocolate these days, since I’m good at sharing, and the box has been pilfered by everyone.  I think there is one turtle left, so I’d best get it before…oops…too late.

Have you ever dared to venture to the store on Valentine’s Day? It’s very amusing and pathetically sad at the same time. Valentine’s Day is one day when the men vastly outnumber the women in the store. Almost every one of these men is trying to find something, anything that is red, heart-shaped, cuddly or sweet to give to the woman in his life to appease her until next Valentine’s Day. Most of them look confused, some resigned, others annoyed. Why are they there? Because society tells them they have to show their love on this day above all others. It’s pitiful actually. (Never mind that my own dear husband is at the store right now! He’s buying a router…and not in the shape of a heart.)

I remember from years ago in my waitressing days a threat made by the restaurant owner’s twenty-something daughter. She fumed that her “significant other” better make a good showing at Valentine’s Day or it was over…again. I asked her what she had in mind, not particularly wanting to know the answer, but not having an escape route at the time. (Life lesson, always have an escape route!) She showed me the catalog she had been carrying around with her all week. She pointed an adamant finger (can fingers be adamant? I think so!) at a rather garish piece of jewelry with a shocking price tag of $349. The poor man. I hope he ran while he still could.

My husband and I wear silver bands on the ring fingers of our left hands. We purchased them together at a small jewelry stand at a Renaissance Fair in Illinois. We never can come to a consensus on what they actually cost. I say $30 for the set. He says $20. At the time, it was a lot of money for us. We have in the past discussed getting gold rings with diamonds and other frills, but then we laugh, rub our rings on our jeans a bit to shine them up, and go on living. Read the rest of this entry »